"Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn."
- Benjamin Franklin
Good Day EWI!
I am penning this a day early as tomorrow I am off to my family's cottage for a relaxing weekend with loved ones. I am nervous though, as it will be our dog Emma's first flight on a plane and since she is now three years old, I am not sure how she will do. Please send me your thoughts and prayers for a quiet and smooth hour-long flight!
Tonight, I had the pleasure of participating in a board to board call with one of our Chapter's who are currently with <25 member firms. The issues and predicament they are in was all too familiar. As always though, what was heartening was to hear the pride and commitment these board members have to their Chapter and to EWI, as a whole.
Sadly, I fear we have become an organization of fund-raisers. On the call, my corporate board colleagues, our ED/COO and I shared some winning strategies that we have been seeing utilized by other Chapters to simplify and refocus on recruitment. It was a mentoring session at its best, and as with any mentoring relationship, there were things to be learned by each party. Sharing with a true intention of listening is such an amazing exercise!
We spoke of retention strategies for brand new member representatives and one of the most compelling acts of engagement you can undertake is to assign a seasoned mentor to that shiny, new, and perhaps young, member representative. The simple act of calling someone up and asking if they are going to the meeting, or asking if they need a ride can go a long way to establishing engagement. As Director Mary Helen Johnston shared, the best thing we can do after a meeting is to phone those members who did not attend and say, "We missed you tonight!"
One of the best practices that I have witnessed the success of is wherein Chapters set aside operating funds to offer a grant to member representatives to attend LCAM. EWI of Chattanooga has done this successfully for years and attributes this very activity to their ultimate success in growing their Chapter. This particular Chapter we spoke with tonight, while having only 22 member firms, has over $40K in their operating account. What on earth for?
Yes, a nest egg is nice to have but perhaps $10K would suffice? A general rule of thumb is to have at least one full year's expenses covered. Given this relative healthy state, we encouraged them to make the investment in their Chapter by sending not one, but two representatives to Leadership Caucus and LCAM...preferably one of their newer members who has not been before. I hope that happens as there is nothing more invigorating for us as members than to attend that glorious week in September when we gather and mentor one another; Member to Member, Chapter to Chapter.
The other message we tend to impart in conversations such as this is to encourage the Chapters who are struggling to cease fundraising activities, or at least scale back so that the work is not too onerous on those few member representatives they do have. There is nothing that will kill a Chapter faster than the "Eco-Board" syndrome...having not enough hands to serve and thus burning out those that do, over and over again.
We must all remember the phrase my Chapter uses to describe the role of an EWI member... "Learn, Lead and Mentor"....the most important of which, for the greater good of all, is mentoring. Share the knowledge and passion you have for EWI with someone sitting next to you! Guaranteed, you will learn from the experience too!
We must also make sure we are focusing our priorities on the 3 C's of EWI; Connections, Careers and Community, in that order! Especially if we are struggling with a lack of member firms. Recruitment is every one's responsibility, not just the R&R Director's. So, in keeping with the last few blogs...here is this month's challenge...invite at least one guest to your August meeting, introduce them, thank them and then follow up with them.
Before I close I want to send a special thank you to all the Chapter Presidents who took the time to attend the Open Forum call on Wednesday. I sincerely appreciate your ongoing engagement, support and dedicated service.
It is hard to believe that LCAM is just five short weeks away! Have you found your special 1930's hat yet for the opening reception? I wish you lots of fun shopping for that!
Have a marvelous weekend everyone!
- K
We spoke of retention strategies for brand new member representatives and one of the most compelling acts of engagement you can undertake is to assign a seasoned mentor to that shiny, new, and perhaps young, member representative. The simple act of calling someone up and asking if they are going to the meeting, or asking if they need a ride can go a long way to establishing engagement. As Director Mary Helen Johnston shared, the best thing we can do after a meeting is to phone those members who did not attend and say, "We missed you tonight!"
One of the best practices that I have witnessed the success of is wherein Chapters set aside operating funds to offer a grant to member representatives to attend LCAM. EWI of Chattanooga has done this successfully for years and attributes this very activity to their ultimate success in growing their Chapter. This particular Chapter we spoke with tonight, while having only 22 member firms, has over $40K in their operating account. What on earth for?
Yes, a nest egg is nice to have but perhaps $10K would suffice? A general rule of thumb is to have at least one full year's expenses covered. Given this relative healthy state, we encouraged them to make the investment in their Chapter by sending not one, but two representatives to Leadership Caucus and LCAM...preferably one of their newer members who has not been before. I hope that happens as there is nothing more invigorating for us as members than to attend that glorious week in September when we gather and mentor one another; Member to Member, Chapter to Chapter.
The other message we tend to impart in conversations such as this is to encourage the Chapters who are struggling to cease fundraising activities, or at least scale back so that the work is not too onerous on those few member representatives they do have. There is nothing that will kill a Chapter faster than the "Eco-Board" syndrome...having not enough hands to serve and thus burning out those that do, over and over again.
We must all remember the phrase my Chapter uses to describe the role of an EWI member... "Learn, Lead and Mentor"....the most important of which, for the greater good of all, is mentoring. Share the knowledge and passion you have for EWI with someone sitting next to you! Guaranteed, you will learn from the experience too!
We must also make sure we are focusing our priorities on the 3 C's of EWI; Connections, Careers and Community, in that order! Especially if we are struggling with a lack of member firms. Recruitment is every one's responsibility, not just the R&R Director's. So, in keeping with the last few blogs...here is this month's challenge...invite at least one guest to your August meeting, introduce them, thank them and then follow up with them.
Before I close I want to send a special thank you to all the Chapter Presidents who took the time to attend the Open Forum call on Wednesday. I sincerely appreciate your ongoing engagement, support and dedicated service.
It is hard to believe that LCAM is just five short weeks away! Have you found your special 1930's hat yet for the opening reception? I wish you lots of fun shopping for that!
Have a marvelous weekend everyone!
- K
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